Magic Kingdom

The guys spent Saturday at the Magic Kingdom with Carl's parents and his brother, Jim's, family. Although Ben has been to Disney several times, this was the first time that he actually knew who the characters were. We talked about meeting Mickey and Minnie all week, and I don't think he was disappointed when the time actually came! He gave them both giant hugs and Carl said that he was pretty reluctant to leave his new friends!

Ben also had a great time going through Minnie's house. He discovered that if he turned the dial on her oven, a cake would inflate. He was obviously thrilled with her interactive kitchen!

The picture above is of Allen and Ben before riding Snow White's Scary Adventures. He has always liked the rides at Magic Kingdom, but apparently he is now old enough to be scared by this one (see picture below!).

Getting ready to watch a 3D show with his cousins.

Ben took a carousel ride for his cousin, Connor!

Ben also enjoyed watching Mickey and friends perform a live show in front of the castle. He even showed off his Superstar pose during the performance!

When Ben returned from Disney, I asked him who he saw there (knowing how excited he was about meeting Mickey and Minnie). He got a huge grin and his face and exclaimed, "Grandma!!".

Originally, our whole family was going to travel to Disney, but with a heat index of 100 degrees and 70% humidity, we decided it was way too hot to take Ella. I was pretty bummed that we were going to miss seeing Jim's family and Ben's first meeting with Mickey, but Ella and I had a nice girl's day in the air conditioning! We got coffee in the morning and then took a nap together in the rocking chair before heading to the pool later in the afternoon. It was nice just to have a whole day of one-on-one time with Ella!

This was our attempt at a nice sibling photo. Sometimes Ben has a hard time containing all of the love that he feels for his little sister!